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Advocating For Somali Unity
Mo Farah stopped at customs? He’s not alone
Mo Farah has revealed that he is regularly stopped and questioned by US border agencies on suspicion of being a terrorist. He believes because of his Somali origin, he is detained every time he goes through US customs. That experience is common amongst Somalis and it has been going on for years. Border officials in […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Renditions continue under Obama, despite due-process concerns
January 2, 2013
The three European men with Somali roots were arrested on a murky pretext in August as they passed through the small African country of Djibouti. But the reason soon became clear when they were visited in their jail cells by a succession of American interrogators. U.S. agents accused the men — two of them Swedes, […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
SOMALI AIRSPACE ROUTINELY VIOLATED by foreign UAVs and other aircraft – UN
August 8, 2012
The United Nations has counted 64 reports of foreign fighter jets, helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicles operating in Somalia over the last year, most of which violated the 1992 arms embargo against Somalia. In its Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, the United Nations said that it had received a growing number […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
SEMG Report attests that IC is an accomplice to Somalia’s strife
July 31, 2012
The leaked and publicly debated report of Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group (SEMG) of the United Nations has uncovered unimaginable range of predatory activities perpetrated by Somali leaders as well as by large number of foreign actors against Somalia’s peace, stability, sovereignty, unity and self-governance. The deep rooted pervasive corruption and mismanagement of the leaders […]
Posted in: African papers
UN corrupts Somali political transition
July 31, 2012
For over the two decades, sectarian Somali leaders and their international patrons dominated political transitions in the country. The end results of these affairs have been perpetual political instability, endless violence and the misery for the population without any one being held accountable. Another transition is looming and the UN which is midwifing the process […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
U.S. is the driving force behind the fighting in Somalia
July 29, 2012
Washington has been quietly equipping and training thousands of African soldiers to wage a widening proxy war against the Shabab, the Al Qaeda ally that has sparked alarm as foreign militants join its ranks. The soldiers stood at attention, rifles at their sides, as U.S. Army Maj. Gen. David Hogg walked down the ranks, eyeing […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
UK troops in Somalia ‘aiding Africa Union force’
July 27, 2012
The UK has established a small military presence in Somalia, the British Ministry of Defence has confirmed. A team of 10 military advisers is based at the headquarters of the African Union force in the capital, Mogadishu. They do not have a combat role; their job is to help the AU with planning, communications and […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Drone operations over Somalia pose danger to air traffic
July 27, 2012
UNITED NATIONS – With so many drones zipping around Somalia, the air traffic in the region faces a dangerous situation, and their use also violate a 1992 arms embargo against the war-torn country, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing United Nations officials. The newspaper cited a recently completed report in which UN officials describe several […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Somalia’s Draft Constitution: Too Undemocratic?
July 4, 2012
The peace and reconciliation process in Somalia has entered a critical juncture. A new constitution, drafted with the help of the United Nations Development Programme, is scheduled to be adopted in the next few weeks. It is hoped that the new constitution will help deliver peace to a country ravaged by more than two decades […]
Posted in: African papers
Occupy Somalia
May 22, 2012
Best hope for peace is for UN to break up the country The EU Naval Force made headlines this week by blasting a pirate base on Somali shores and pirate ships out of Somali waters. The well-publicized and logical rationale for the navy’s aggressive new stance: Somali piracy costs the world economy an estimated US$7-billion […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Kenya’s security forces losing the battle for Somali hearts and minds
May 22, 2012
I am glad that Charles Onyango-Obbo had the gumption to ask the “elephant-in-the room” question in his report on military actions in Somalia published in the EastAfrican last week: When does the Kenya Defence Force plan to capture the Al Shabaab-controlled city of Kismayu? Ever since Operation Linda Nchi started in October last year, Kenyans […]
Posted in: African papers
U.S. trains African soldiers for Somalia mission
May 15, 2012
The heart of the Obama administration’s strategy for fighting al-Qaeda militants in Somalia can be found next to a cow pasture here, a thousand miles from the front lines. Under the gaze of American instructors, gangly Ugandan recruits are taught to carry rifles, dodge roadside bombs and avoid shooting one another by accident. In one obstacle […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
EU carries out first air strikes against Somali pirates
May 15, 2012
The European Union naval force patrolling the Indian Ocean on Tuesday carried out its first air strikes against pirate targets on shore, with a pirate reporting that the raid destroyed speed boats, fuel depots and an arms store. Bile Hussein, a pirate commander, said Tuesday the attack on Handulle village in the Mudug region of […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Five Reasons Drone Assassinations Are Illegal
May 15, 2012
US civilian and military employees regularly target and fire lethal unmanned drone guided missiles at people across the world. Thousands of people have been assassinated. Hundreds of those killed were civilians. Some of those killed were rescuers and mourners. These killings would be criminal acts if they occurred inside the US. Does it make legal sense […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
UN threatens the Somali democratic movement
May 10, 2012
The UN Special Representative (SR), The African Union Special Representative (AUSR), and IGAD Facilitator for Somalia (IGADF) distributed a press release threatening those they call spoilers of the Somali political process with sanctions. Here is how they articulated the threats which they might impose on the movement, including sanctions and other unspecified measures: “… the […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Somalia, Sovereignty In Catch-22
May 10, 2012
For more than two decades, Somalia’s sovereignty has been in limbo- or in an utterly defunct status. Though there are many causes, a particular one stands out exponentially: volatile security. For no nation can claim, or (like in Somalia’s case) reclaim its sovereignty while dependent on another country, coalition, or a peace-building force for security. […]
Posted in: African papers
Trade, armies turning Somalia into an Anglo-Kiswahili state
May 10, 2012
While the battle against Al Shabaab may still be going on, East African countries seem to have already won a major war in Somalia — one they never set out to fight. At nearly all events held by Amisom (the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia) and international organisations operating in Mogadishu, there will be […]
Posted in: African papers
Oil can be a boon for Somalia
May 10, 2012
Ever since the fall of the Somalia’s pro-US president, Mohammad Siad Barre, in 1991, the country has been in a state of chaos and disorder. In the absence of a central authority, tribal conflicts, warlordism, and a resurgent militancy in the form of Al Shabab have come to dominate and define the political reality of […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Why Britain’s aid efforts could be a victim of Somalia’s Spring
May 3, 2012
IF SOMALIA experiences its own Arab-style ‘spring’, it might not be a revolutionary wave against its own government – but an uprising against British intervention in the form of ‘aid’. Senior government ministers in Mogadishu have expressed concern at the renewed international interest led by London. They believe the “projectification” of Somalia benefits mainly Nairobi, the […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
U.S. Patriot Act Kept Somalia Starving
April 29, 2012
When war-torn Somalia was also ravaged by a drought-induced famine last year, which killed tens of thousands and displaced over a million people, international media was quick to blame the Islamist Al-Shabaab for blocking humanitarian assistance from reaching its zone of control in southern Somalia. But according to Ken Menkhaus, professor of Political Science at […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Somali asylum seekers forced into battle
April 26, 2012
Reports were released of Iran and Saudi Arabia both accusing each other of recruiting and training Somali refugees in Yemen as fighters, Radio Garowe reports. An Iranian news agency FNA said last week that 1,300 Somali refugees were transferred to a military base in Saudi Arabia to be trained to fight Houthis a Shia insurgent […]
Posted in: African papers
Kenya, Somalia border row threatens oil exploration
April 26, 2012
A row between Kenya and Somalia over their maritime border may deter multinational oil companies from exploring for oil and gas offshore east Africa, and a Somali official warned that the argument could escalate. The two coastal nations disagree over the location of their boundary line in the Indian Ocean. At stake are their legal […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
The State of Somali Union
April 25, 2012
In any federal system, the gray area between the powers of the federal government and those of the constituent states is a constant battleground. What is remarkable about the U.S. federal system, for example, is that even though power is relatively decentralized — each of the 50 states has its own constitution — the center […]
Posted in: African papers
Can Kenya show value for Sh12bn Somalia incursion?
April 25, 2012
They often come in late, but the numbers are out. Kenya’s six-month incursion into Somalia in pursuit of Al Shabaab terrorists have cost the taxpayer more than Sh12 billion — at least going by the latest Supplementary Budget estimates. This is the money that the Treasury is seeking to top up whatever has already been […]
Posted in: African papers
Saudi and Iran exchange accusations over Somali military recruitment in Yemen
April 25, 2012
The flow of African refugees in Yemen, in particular Somalis, has sparked a wave of accusations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Iranian and Saudi media outlets have accused each other’s countries of recruiting Somalis who flow into Yemen as fighters. The Iranian military-run Fars News Agency (FNA) said last Thursday that 1,300 Somali refugees were […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
The Memory of a Nation
April 16, 2012
If you want to see where Somalia is headed, just see which voices sound loudest and travel fastest. No doubt, you will find that such are the times we live that the medium is set for divisive voices: “golden times,” you might say for clannish demagogues who want to divide the nation and hold it […]
Posted in: African papers
Kenya role in Somalia clan politics worries regional allies
April 12, 2012
Kenya’s attempts to intervene politically in southern Somalia will complicate the search for stability in the war-torn country. A decision to prop up armed militias from a leading clan in the years before ”Operation Linda Nchi” has created competing centres of power opposed by both Al Shabaab and the Transitional Federal Government. Internal rivalry among […]
Posted in: African papers
An odious affair: The UN in Somalia
April 3, 2012
The Somali people have suffered a great deal and are heading towards oblivion unless dramatic action is urgently taken. Somalia’s condition is the product of internal and external actors’ attempt to realise their respective political agendas. The cumulative effects of the military dictatorship, cold/terror warriors, faction leaders, warlords, client Somali regimes, Ethiopian and Kenyan invasions, […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
The Repulsive Ethiopian Help!
March 31, 2012
The Ethiopian recuptured Baidoa — the bastion of Al-Shabab — the liberated population didn’t cheer at all for their neighborly help – and you may wonder why? Buy all acounts, the Ethiopian army showed their help in the most ferocious way by rounding up the elders of the city, including the President of University of […]
Posted in: African papers
It is Crucial to “De-Nairobify” Somali Affairs
March 30, 2012
For a number of years, Nairobi (Kenya) has been the de facto capital of Somalia after the State has disintegrated into anarchy. It has been where Somalis sought refuge, re-started their lives, and networked with the rest of the world. By the same token, it has been where almost all of the eighteen or so […]
Posted in: African papers
Amisom now racing to pacify Somalia ahead of Kenya poll
March 24, 2012
Events have become hectic in Somalia in the past few days, with a major reconfiguration taking place of how the African Union Peace Keeping Mission will work towards stabilising the country. It is now emerging that Ethiopia is planning to withdraw its troops from Somalia at the end of April. This will allow Uganda, Burundi […]
Posted in: African papers
UPDF soldiers in Somalia not paid for months (monthly salary $750 about Shs 1.8m)
March 16, 2012
My husband is an honourable man who has fought for this country; why make his family suffer? Why are they not paying him?” Monica stares poignantly at a blank wall in the living room of her newly rented two-room house nestled in the sprawling Bwaise slum in Kampala. She cuts a forlorn figure as she […]
Posted in: African papers
Somalia’s resources next target of Western intervention?
March 14, 2012
High level representatives from over 40 nations, the World Bank and the United Nations gathered at London’s Lancaster House on Feb. 23 for an international conference concerning the situation in Somalia. The list of conferees included U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and Secretary- General […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Amisom to pay KDF soldiers Sh84,296 ($1,028) monthly allowance
March 14, 2012
Kenyan soldiers fighting the al-Shabaab in Somalia will each receive a monthly allowance of Sh84,296, ($1,028) on top of their salaries after they integrate into African Mission in Somalia (Amisom). Chief of Defence Forces General Julius Karangi said the 4,660 soldiers would also get comprehensive medical cover and access to advanced equipment. Kenyan soldiers intergrated […]
Posted in: African papers
UN Somali ‘Surge’ vs. Al Shabab Expansion
March 10, 2012
In a worrying sign for the powers that be in the west, the Somali national resistance under the umbrella of Al Shabab has made its first major breakthrough in the northern region of Somalia by bringing into its folds the Islamic Resistance in Puntland. With Al Shabab this past year having unified all the major […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Sudden interest in Somalia points to suspect Western corporate interests
March 5, 2012
In her book The Shock Doctrine, Canadian author Naomi Klein argues that Western governments often use humanitarian relief and reconstruction as an excuse and an opportunity to force poor or strife-torn countries to adopt neoliberal economic models that ultimately serve the interests of Western corporations. Citing examples from Chile, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Russia, Argentina, […]
Posted in: African papers
Al Shabaab and Kenya’s Somalia Invasion ” Professor David Anderson Lectures on Kenya’s invasion of Southern Somalia
March 3, 2012
Posted in: Video's
UK’s Somalia ‘aid for oil’ plan ‘cynical’ says campaign group
March 3, 2012
The World Development Movement has today (Thursday) warned that the UK’s new drive to provide aid to Somalia is looking like a ‘cynical’ attempt to grab its oil, rather than being aimed at ensuring a better future for people in one of the world’s poorest countries. A report in the Observer newspaperon Sunday revealed that […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Why the New Plan for Somalia Will Fail
March 3, 2012
The old plan to rebuild Somalia was based a fairly top-down model in which the idea was to first establish the framework of government (a Transitional Federal Government and a new constitution) and then to ensure its implementation.The plan faced a number of obvious problems. It is very difficult to establish a legitimate government by […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
David Cameron’s Welcome Colonial Arrogance
February 29, 2012
It was arrogance, sheer arrogance of colonial times; another British PM in the 21st century dictating his terms to a beleaguered African nation. David Cameron buoyed by his victory in Libya wanted an international endorsement to air bomb Somalia under the pretext of fighting Al Shabab and Piracy but in real truth he wanted to address […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
London Somalia Conference – Hypocrisy of Democracy?
February 29, 2012
The London Somalia conference held in Lancaster House, UK on 23rd Feb, is another example of hypocrisy of democracies. It shows how the torchbearers of democracy, are eager to impose models based on their own vested interests on foreign lands.The same Lancaster House, hosted two years back the ‘London Afghanistan Conference’, in which the UK […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Britain leads dash to explore for oil in war-torn Somalia
February 26, 2012
Britain is involved in a secret high-stakes dash for oil in Somalia, with the government offering humanitarian aid and security assistance in the hope of a stake in the beleaguered country’s future energy industry. Riven by two decades of conflict that have seen the emergence of a dangerous Islamic insurgency, Somalia is routinely described as […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Getting Somalia Right This Time
February 22, 2012
Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain will convene a big international meeting on Somalia on Thursday. The tasks:stopping piracy in the Indian Ocean, uprooting terrorism, relieving a famine and ending a civil war. The approach: Western ships, U.S. drones, African soldiers and international money for the Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu. This is all very […]
Posted in: African papers
Analysis: Britain’s rudderless ride to Somalia’s rescue
February 20, 2012
Their Libyan adventure gave David Cameron and his government a taste for foreign intervention. Next stop is Somalia, which – after two decades of civil war – is ripe for rescuing. Except it’s a little dangerous in the Horn of Africa, so Somalia was invited to London for a major peace conference that is going […]
Posted in: African papers
UK accused of trying to colonize Somalia
February 19, 2012
Somalia’s al-Shabab militants have considered British government’s plans to address the mounting crises in the African nation as “another attempt to colonize Somalia.” Prime Minister David Cameron will lead London Conference on Somalia on February 23, to introduce fresh steps to fight terrorism in the war-torn country. Envoys from 50 nations– including the US, Ethiopia […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
USA: Back to Djibouti: Africom and the New White Burden
February 19, 2012
The visit to Djibouti by US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in late 2011 seems to be an omen foretelling the rebirth of the US African Command’s (AFRICOM) base in the Horn of Africa. The USA has little choice really, now that the Bahraini peoples resistance to the western backed Hamad regime has become firmly established […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
US Considers Increasing Military Aid to Proxies in Somalia
February 19, 2012
The United States is considering increasing its military aid to the African Union’s mission in Somalia following a formal announcement of a merger between the Somali militant group al-Shabab and “al-Qaeda”. Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s leader, made a formal announcement of an alliance with al-Shabab. This has prompted the U.S., which has been supporting Somali and African […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Kenyan military incursion should focus on Somalia exit strategy
February 19, 2012
International conflict resolution group on Wednesday called on Kenyan military not to extend its intervention in Somalia and should instead focus on exit strategy to avoid sparking local resistance and retaliation. The International Crisis Group (ICG) said Kenya which launched cross border incursion in October last year should articulate a clear plan and strategy to […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Kenya Warned Against Getting Bogged Down in Somalia
February 19, 2012
A new report by the International Crisis Group is warning Kenya against getting bogged down in Somalia, where it is helping to fight al-Shabab Islamic militants. The group says Kenya made a hasty decision to intervene militarily in Somalia without a clear plan or exit strategy. It warns Kenya that a prolonged operation in Somalia […]
Posted in: African papers
Bildt: Sweden in dark over US terror extradition
January 20, 2013
Sweden’s foreign minister Carl Bildt has stated that Sweden received no information with regards to two Swedes, suspected of terror crime in Somalia, who were extradited to the US. In an interview with Sveriges Radio on Saturday, Bildt was asked whether Sweden received any information before the Swedes were taken to the US. “If they’d […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
SOMALIA: IGAD’s Shocking Memorandum of Understanding
January 2, 2013
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the regional organization for East African countries that include, among others, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, has recently published an unsigned and troubling Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which indicates that the new government of Somalia is allowing Kenya and Ethiopia to oversee the “political and administrative arrangements in South-central Somalia.” […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
How Is Canada’s Somali Population Faring
December 30, 2012
The Somali Canadian population is “undergoing the growing pains of integration into the larger Canadian mainstream” according to the head of the influential Somali Canadian Congress. Ahmed Hussen, a noted activist and newly minted Ottawa University lawyer, reflects on mentorship, influence and integration for Canada’s large Somali population and also looks ahead to his home […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Dutch fly first ScanEagle mission off Somalia
September 8, 2012
The Dutch armed forces have performed their first surveillance mission in support of NATO’s counter-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia using the Boeing/Insitu ScanEagle unmanned air system. Launched from the Royal Netherlands Navy’s landing platform dock the HNLMS Rotterdam on 8 August, the ScanEagle completed a flight of more than 9h over the Gulf […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Unemployment causes more mental health problems among Somalis in London than in Minneapolis
September 8, 2012
The study used a survey and focus groups to investigate the experiences of Somalis living in London (UK) and Minneapolis (USA). After adjusting for various factors such as age, sex and marital status, the researchers found that Somalis in London were six times more likely to suffer from major depression and four times more likely […]
Posted in: Interantional newspapers/Somalia
Two-thirds of bilateral aid to Somalia govt stolen, diverted
July 27, 2012
Successive Somali governments have not accounted for nearly $238 million, the bulk of which constituted bilateral assistance, according to an audit report made available exclusively to The East African. The report shows that over the period 2000-2011, the first Somali Transitional National Government and the subsequent Transitional Federal Government received bilateral aid totalling $308 million, […]
Posted in: African papers
SOMALIA: The Final Offensive
July 27, 2012
The UN investigators are proving embarrassing to Somali and Kenyan leaders. Both countries are reported to be very corrupt, even to extent to keeping known Islamic terrorist supporters (usually leading clerics) out of jail in Kenya and leading to leaders of the TNG (Transitional National Government) of stealing 70 percent of the foreign aid sent […]
Posted in: African papers
kaarshe Blog 
January 2, 2013
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